The Manchester clubs laid down a marker yesterday with the signings of Paul Pogba and John Stones for a combined fee of £140 million.

United finally completed the deal for Pogba in the early hours of the morning for a world record fee of £89m, which could rise to over £100m.

Hours later, in a bizarre fashion, City announced a £47m deal for Stones from Everton. Uefa had released City’s Champions League squad with Stones listed as a defender before the club had announced the transfer.